Green credits may be growth area

Tradeable credits from saving forests, wetlands and endangered species is set to be a growth area for investors seeking to fight climate change, the head of a New Zealand-based carbon-trading market told Reuters. Demand is growing, said Mark Franklin of TZ1, for projects that preserve habitats and their biodiversity.
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Closely linked with the New Zealand stock exchange operator NZX Ltd, TZ1 has begun to offer biodiversity credits to diversify its offerings to the world’s carbon-trading market, currently valued at over US$60 billion. Standard carbon markets let firms or nations buy and sell greenhouse-gas emissions offsets to meet both voluntary and mandatory targets.

 

As demand for biodiversity credits to protect environmental assets grows, the company says, developers could sell such credits by preserving or restoring forests or saving rivers and water flows.

 

“A biodiversity credit is a little bit like an emissions offset,” said Franklin, “but it’s something somebody is willing to invest in for the purposes for the next generation.” To be attractive, he added, conservation-credit schemes should last for about 50 years.

 

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